Back Pain During Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a boon that every woman is blessed with, but pregnancy brings with itself a lot of conditions that disrupt the normal functioning of a female body. Out of various symptoms that she suffers back pain is the most common and most disturbing.

Typical back pain related to pregnancy starts in the second half of the pregnancy period. The female body changes and the meeting of the pelvis with the joints is the main cause of the back pain.

Causes of back pain in pregnancy

During pregnancy, the weight of female increases by 25 to 30% which exerts a pressure on the backbone, the backbone has to support the extra weight increase during the pregnancy, and the weight of the growing baby in the uterus exerts pressure on the blood vessels and nerves in the spinal and the backbone region. The extra weight that the backbone has to bear is the main reason for the back pain.

Change in the posture
Carrying extra weight in the abdominal region shift the center of gravity of your body and you without noticing it on a daily basis. It will try to adjust in a manner that comforts you most but hurts you eventually in the lower spinal region.

Hormones
The release of a hormone called relaxin in the pregnancy leads to relaxation of the ligaments in the pelvic area and joints. The purpose of relaxin is to loosen the muscles and ligaments associated to the pelvic area to smoothen the birth process, this also leads to loosening of the ligaments and muscles associated to the spinal cord and thus leads to back pain.

Muscle movement and separation
As the uterus expands the muscle separates to give more room to the growing fetus. The separation leads to worsening of the back pain.

Treatment of back pain during pregnancy

Exercise
To keep yourself fit during pregnancy and avoiding back pain one needs to perform light exercise on a regular basis. Exercises like swimming, walking, etc. can help you fight back pain. Pregnant women are highly recommended to be in touch with your physiotherapist to keep yourself strong enough till delivery.

Heat and cold therapy
In case of a mild back pain put a bag of ice pack against your back, in a repeated cycle for few weeks and then replace it with hot packs. The heat pads will heal the area of inflammation in your lower back region but avoid putting those heat packs directly on your abdomen.

Maintain a proper posture
Try maintaining a proper posture while sitting or sleeping with the help of extra questions and pillows. As sleeping on the sides with a question below your knees will help you maintain a proper posture while sleeping. Certain therapy like acupuncture and chiropractic claims to benefit women fight back pain during pregnancy but ensure consulting your doctor while doing so. While some pregnant women will find benefits from using the inversion table. However, from the research of Inspirational Bodies: Inversion tables should never be used during pregnancy. It can be very harmful to the baby.

Few words of precaution include avoiding heels during pregnancy. To pick up something from the ground, one should not bend directly and use your legs. Consult your doctor on a regular basis and take the prescribed medications.